Computers and other related electronic devices have become a part of every day life to an extent that would have been unimaginable several decades ago. Computers have become work place necessities and are playing an increasingly important role in personal as well as professional information collection and communication. Axiomatically, in order to communicate with or through a computer system, a user must have an efficient and universally recognizable means by which to enter information, commonly performed with recourse to an alpha-numeric keyboard.
The standard computer keyboard layout is recognized as being a carry-over from the days of mechanical typewriters, when mechanical linkages were required to connect the keys to the internal mechanisms of the typewriter. Much of the keyboard layout was dictated by the limitations of these mechanical linkages. For example, the well known staggering of the rows of keys in the standard keyboard layout (resulting in the well known slanting key columns) originally served to allow the linkages associated with one row of keys to be positioned between the keys of the preceding higher rows. Additionally, the standard “QWERTY” key layout was originally adopted to limit typing speeds and space-out alternating letters to the greatest degree possible, in order to prevent jammed key linkages.
Because of the perception that any changes to the standard keyboard layout would require costly retraining of typists, the standard keyboard layout has survived virtually unchanged to the present day. As new or additional functions have been added to office machines and computers, the additional keys needed to implement these functions have generally been added at the periphery of the standard keyboard layout. That result is the keyboard layout which is known to be inefficient and which could contribute to debilitating injuries from repetitive motion and awkward positions of the shoulders, arms, wrists and hands, during every day use.
The manner in which the keyboard is used has also changed significantly since the days of the mechanical typewriter. For example, keyboard users are no longer required to depress the <ENTER> key at the end of each line, since most software includes the ability to automatically “wrap” text to the next line, obviating the need for a carriage return. Other keys, such as <BACKSPACE>, are now used much more frequently than they were on typewriters, while keys for certain basic computer-type operations such as “navigating” through a document or accessing common operating high-system functions, had no counterparts on conventional typewriters.
It is also now nearly universal for a computer user to use a pointing device, most commonly a mouse, simultaneously with the keyboard as an input device. In order to accommodate both forms of input devices, the user must typically continually move one hand back and forth between the keyboard to the mouse in order to access their particular functions. For right-handed keyboard users (the vast majority), the mouse is often placed to the right of the keyboard, with the distance from the right hand “home” position of a typical desk top keyboard to the mouse often exceeding 20 inches.
Originally adapted for use only on typewriters, keyboards have become ubiquitous as input devices for a vast range of electronic appliances, including notebook computers, personal organizers, e-mail telephone devices, web-TV controllers, game devices, industrial control consoles, and are now appearing as input devices for home appliances. The standard desk top keyboard layout is often not fully suited to these “new” applications, both because of its irrational layout and its elongated shape and footprint. The standard keyboard has often been adapted to new uses by arbitrarily relocating keys around the periphery of the keyboard and/or by overlaying functions on top of the alpha-numeric keys. The result is an increasing number of specialized keyboard layouts, resulting in a variety of purpose-specific systems and the lack of a truly universal standard.
The standard keyboard layout is also generally known to have ergonomic shortcomings which cause fatigue with extended use and which, over time, can result in debilitating injuries from “repetitive stress”. Much of the stress placed on the shoulders, arms and wrists when using the traditional keyboard are the result of unnatural hand positions, wherein the hands are placed directly next to one another on the keyboard. This position requires either that the wrists be continually flexed while the arms are held against the body. Additional stress is caused by the need to continually rotate the wrist in order to access commonly used keys such as <SHIFT> and <BACKSPACE>.
Many companies have attempted unsuccessfully over the years to biomechanically solve the stress-related design issues that are inherent in standard keyboard layouts. Unfortunately, the so called “ergonomic keyboards” that have been developed thus far disregard the importance of key position and key layout, reach and extension of a typists' fingers, and the physical size of the key surface. Several manufacturers claim to produce “split hand” keyboards, but in actuality the keyboards are nothing more than “fan” boards in which the hands are angled to a more natural position but remain close to one another. This type of design alleviates some stress on the hands but this stress is merely relocated by having the user position their shoulders and elbows in non-neutral adducted and internally rotated positions. Further, some of these designs position the keyboard surface along a positive slope that extends the wrists into non-neutral postures. Others have complex shapes which add significantly to their cost of manufacture.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, none of the presently implemented “ergonomic” keyboards address the issue of repetitive stress induced injuries resulting from constant rotation and displacement of the wrist by an inappropriate placement of the <ENTER> and <BACKSPACE> keys. It is well understood that the constant wrist rotation and finger extension required to repetitively access these keys may be a major culprit in the most commonly reported repetitive stress injuries by typists.
In addition to these ergonomic deficiencies, conventional keyboards exhibit an inordinately large footprint, particularly when the keyboard is a “full function” keyboard, such as those incorporating a “function”, or “editing” pad, along with a numeric key pad, in addition to the standard alpha-numeric key layout. Conventionally, all of these extra functional key portions are disposed linearly across the keyboard and are arranged side-by-side-by-side. This results in a very high length aspect for these keyboards, making them particularly troublesome to use in connection with a small appliance. Given that appliance sizes are being constantly scaled to smaller and smaller footprints, the benefits of reduced appliance area might not be realizable if each appliances' input device, i.e., the keyboard, were an overly large and clumsy apparatus.
Accordingly, there is a strong need for new keyboard designs which reflect the manner in which keyboards are being presently used in connection with modern electronic appliances and which incorporate such appliances' functional keys without distorting or extending the keyboard layout. These new keyboard designs should incorporate a key layout which supports systematic relaxation of a users' posture as well as reducing the amount of repetitive movement of the wrists and fingers. There is also a need for keyboard modules, which include left-hand and right-hand modules, along with editing pad/numeric pad keypad modules, which can be applied to the increasing range of keyboard applications, without the need to reconfigure the basic layouts of the modules for each new application. The keyboard designer should represent a universal standard, and incorporate the functions and an editing pad/numeric key pad within the dimensional footprint conventionally allocated solely to the alpha-numeric portion of the keyboard. This should be done while maintaining the key area at full size.
The new keyboard design should ideally be easy for experienced keyboard users to master as well as being inexpensive to produce.